Furniture leg and attaching means



March 30, 1965 c, EENE m 3,175,794

FURNITURE LEG AND ATTAGHING MEANS Filed May 29, 1963 INVENTOR JONES C. BEENE Ill ATTORNEY s nited States Patent 3,175,794 FURNITURE LEG AND ATTACHING MEANS Jones C. Beeue HI, P.0. Box 189, Athens, Tenn. Filed May 29, 1963, Ser. No. 284,109 2 Claims. (Cl. 248-188) The present invention relates to improvements in fumiture and more particularly to furniture legs and means for attaching the same to a piece of furniture to be supported.

An object of the present invention is to produce a single means for attaching a leg to a piece of furniture to be supported which may be readily and economically manufactured.

Another object of the invention is to produce a leg attaching means for furniture to which a leg may be secured without the use of special tools.

Still another object of the invention is to produce a leg attaching means for furniture which may be made by casting, forming, or molding a metal or plastic material thereby substantially reducing the production costs thereof.

These and other objects of the invention may be achieved by an assembly of a furniture leg and leg attaching means wherein the leg includes a shank portion and a top portion, the top portion includes a substantially planar rectangular section having a pair of opposed peripheral side edges and a pair of opposed peripheral end edges, the shank portion of the leg extruding from one surface of the rectangular section; and the leg attaching means comprises a plate having at least one surface adapted to engage a surface of a piece of furniture to be supported, a pair of spaced parallel track forming members depending downwardly from the surface opposite to the surface adapted to engage the furniture, the track forming members spaced apart a sufficient amount to snuggly receive respective ones of the pairs of opposed peripheral side edges of the rectangular section of the leg and a pair of downwardly depending stop members spaced apart a sufficient amount to engage respective ones of the pair of opposed peripheral end edges of the rectangular section of said leg to thereby firmly attach the leg to the leg attaching means.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become readily apparent from reading the following detailed description of one embodiment of the invention with reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a preferred embodiment of the invention showing an assembly of a furniture leg and means for attaching the same to a piece of furniture to be supported;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the leg attaching means illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 and in phantom line further illustrates a fragment of a leg member in assembled position with respect to the leg attaching means, and

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a preferred embodiment of the furniture leg of the assembly illustrated in FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated an assembly of a furniture leg and leg attaching means. The assembly includes a furniture leg generally indicated by a reference numeral and a leg attaching plate generally indicated by a reference numeral 12. In FIG. 1, the leg attaching plate 12 is shown as being fastened to the undersurface of a piece of furniture generally indicated by reference numeral 14.

The leg attaching plate 12 is clearly illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 and is in the form of a generally rectangular plate having an upper surface 16 and a lower surface 18. The upper surface 16 of the plate 12 is adapted to engage the lower surface of a piece of furniture 14 which is typically 3,175,794 Patented Mar. 30, 1965 a chair, sofa, table, or the like. The plate 12 is typically provided with a number of fastener receiving holes or apertures 20. Suitable fasteners 22, such as screws for example, are inserted through the apertures 20 and fastened to the undersurface of the furniture 14. As the fasteners 22 are tightened, the upper surface 16 of the leg attaching plate 12 tightly engages the adjacent surface of the pieces of furniture 14.

The lower surface 18 of the leg attaching plate 12 is provided at opposed peripheral edges thereof with a pair of parallel arranged downwardly depending track forming members 24 and 26. The respective track forming members 24 and 26 include upstanding portions 28 and 30 and inwardly extending portions 32 and 34 respectively which cooperate to form a pair of generally channelledshaped tracks having their open sides facing one another. Preferably, the inner edges of inwardly extending portions 32 and 34 are rounded to somewhat conform to the adjacent portion of an associated furniture leg. By rounding the edges in this manner, it also will militate against the scratching and gouging of the leg during assembly.

The other opposing peripheral edges of the leg attaching plate 12 are provided with downwardly depending stop members 36 and 38 which are typically formed integral with the plate. The stop members 36 and 38 typically have a curved or rounded surface and function, in cooperation with the track forming members 24 and 26, to suitably retain the furniture leg 10 therein as will be explained in greater detail hereinafter. The leg attaching plate 12 is preferably made of metal, but it must be understood that other materials could likewise be used.

The furniture leg 10 comprises in its preferred embodiment, a generally hollow shank portion 40 and a top portion generally indicated by reference 42. The shank portion and the top portion are preferably made of plastic material as by casting or molding, and while this form of construction is inexpensive to manufacture, through the proper selection of the plastic composition, such as cellulose acetate butyrate, an extremely rugged leg is produced. Further, by proper molding techniques, the cutter surface is attractive in appearance and requires no ancillary machining, polishing, coating, doloring or the like. The illustrated leg 10 is generally an inverted truncated pyramid in shape; however, many other shapes could satisfactorily be employed. The lowermost portion of the leg 10, which is adapted to engage a supporting surface, is provided with a floor-glide element 44 secured by a suitable threaded fastener 46.

The top portion 42 of the leg 10 is provided with an integral flange 48 having a substantially planar upper surface, parallel side edges 52 and 54, and parallel end edges 56 and 58. The thickness of the flange 48, in vertical section, is substantially equal to the height of the channels formed by the open sides of the track forming members 24 and 26.

Also, the spacing between innermost portions of the upstanding portions 28 and 30 of the track forming members 24 and 26 is substantially equal to the width of flanges 48 of the top portion 42.

From a practical standpoint the structure of the leg 10 is such that it has a rather wide application. If desired, the flange portion 42 of the leg 10 may be provided with apertures to receive threaded fasteners. The resulting leg structure could be fastened directly to a piece of furniture by merely inserting screws, for example, through the holes and thereafter fastening directly to the underside of a piece of furniture. Such an assemblage would, of course, not embody the novel features of this invention, but it could well be an important factor to a manufacturer who desired to produce and sell leg structures suitable for various attaching assemblages. By requiring only a single set of dies to manufacture such a leg structure, the manufacturing costs could be materially reduced.

In assembling the furniture leg to the leg attaching plate 12, the end edge 56 is positioned such that the associated adjacent side edges 52 and 54 are received within the channels or tracks formed by the track forming members 24 and 26. In this position the stop member 36 is typically disposed within the hollow section of the leg 10. The leg 10 is then forced or pushed to a position in which the leading edge 56 comes into contact with the stop member 33 whereupon the opposite edge 58 drops downwardly to rest on or engage the lower surface 18 of the leg attaching plate 12. At this point, the stop members 36 and 38, in cooperation with the track forming members 24 and 26, snugly engage top portion of the leg 10 and secure the same in supporting relation under the piece of furniture 14.

It will be noted that as the leg 10 and its associated flange 48 is slid between the track forming members 24 and 26 in the final stages of assemblage, the portion of the flange 48 adjacent the end edge 58 is flexed downwardly away from the surface 13 by the outer surface of the stop member 38. The flexing action of the flange 48 is effected by the pliability and flexibility of the material employed in the fabrication of leg 10. As mentioned above, in the preferred embodiment, plastic material has been found to exhibit satisfactory results. However, it must be understood that other materials having similar physical characteristics could be employed.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle and mode of operation of my invention and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the apepnded claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. An assembly of a furniture leg and leg attaching means, said leg including a shank portion and a top porthe top portion including a substantially planar section having a pair of peripheral side edges and a pair of opposed peripheral end edges, the shank portion of said leg extending'from one surface of said planar section; and said leg attaching means comprising a plate having at least one surface adapted to engage a surface of a piece of furniture to be supported, a pair of spaced track forming members depending downwardly from the surface opposite to the surface adapted to engage the furniture and having lips which extend toward each other to define said tracks, said track forming members spaced apart a sufficient amount to receive and snugly engage respective ones of the pair of opposed peripheral side edges of the planar sectionof said leg, and a pair of spaced downwardly depending stop members, said stop members spaced apart a sufiicient amount to engage respective ones of the pair of opposed peripheral end edges of the planar section of said leg to thereby firmly attach said leg to said leg attaching means, said stop members being positioned on the same side of said plate as the track forming members at opposite end portions of the plate in spaced relation to the respective ends of the track forming members, said stop members extending normally away from said plate whereby assembling of the said leg onto the said attaching plate requires a flexing of the planar section.

2. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein said stop members have rounded outer surfaces.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,800,132 4/31 Brubaker 248188 2,869,950 1/59 Broccone 28720 3,005,612 10/61 Drezner 248188 CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

UNITE-D STATES-PATENT OFF-ICE CERTIFICATE OF C ECTIUN Patent No. 3,175, 794 March 30, 1965 Jones C. Been e, III

It is hereby certified that error appears in-the above numbered j3a t ent reqliring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as correctedbelow.

Column 4, line 3, for "por read I- portion Signed and sealed this 17th'- day of Angnst 1965 (SEAL) Altest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER I EDWARD J. BRENNER -All.0sting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

1. AN ASSEMBLY OF A FURNITURE LEG AND LEG ATTACHING MEANS, SAID LEG INCLUDING A SHANK PORTION AND TO TOP PORTHE TOP PORTION INCLUDING A SUBSTANTIALLY PLANAR SECTION HAVING A PAIR OF PERIPHERAL SIDE EDGES AND A PAIR OF OPPOSED PERIPHERAL END EDGES, THE SHANK PORTION OF SAID LEG EXTENDING FROM ONE SURFACE OF SAID PLANAR SECTION; AND SAID LEG ATTACHING MEANS COMPRISING A PLATE HAVING AT LEAST ONE SURFACE ADAPTED TO ENGAGE A SURFACE OF A PIECE OF FURNITURE TO BE SUPPORTED, A PAIR OF SPACED TRACK FORMING MEMBERS DEPENDING DOWNWARDLY FROM THE SURFACE OPPOSITE TO THE SURFACE ADAPTED TO ENGAGE THE FURNITURE AND HAVING LIPS WHICH EXTEND TOWARD EACH OTHER TO DEFINE SAID TRACKS, SAID TRACK FORMING MEMBERS SPACED APART A SUFFICIENT AMOUNT TO RECEIVE AND SNUGLY ENGAGE RESPECTIVE ONES OF THE PAIR OF OPPOSED PERIPHERAL SIDE EDGES OF THE PLANAR SECTION OF SAID LEG, AND A PAIR OF SPACED DOWNWARDLY DEPENDING STOP MEMBERS, SAID STOP MEMBERS SPACED APART A SUFFICIENT AMOUNT TO ENGAGE RESPECTIVE ONES OF THE PAIR OF OPPOSED PERIPHERAL END EDGES OF THE PLANAR SECTION OF SAID LEG TO THEREBY FIRMLY ATTACH SAID LEG TO SAID LEG ATTACHING MEANS, SAID STOP MEMBERS BEING POSITIONED ON THE SAME SIDE OF SAID PLATE AS THE TRACK FORMING MEMBERS AT OPPOSITE END PORTIONS OF THE PLATE IN SPACED RELATION TO THE RESPECTIVE ENDS OF THE TRACK FORMING MEMBERS, SAID STOP MEMBERS EXTENDING NORMALLY AWAY FROM SAID PLATE WHEREBY ASSEMBLING OF THE SAID LEG ONTO THE SAID ATTACHING PLATE REQUIRES A FLEXING OF THE PLANAR SECTION. 